As part of its continuing program to stimulate superior basic research in the marine environment, the Office of Naval Research, Ocean Science and Technology Division, sponsored a series of closed seminar-workshops in 1972-1973. Each seminar focused upon one re- search area of marine geology which is relatively new and in need of a critical evaluation and accelerated support. The subjects areas chosen for the seminars were: 1. natural gases in marine sediments and their mode of distribution, 2. nephelometry and the optical properties of ocean waters, 3. physical and engineering properties of...